'automobile' originates from French, specifically the word 'automobile', where Greek 'autos' meant 'self' and Latin 'mobilis' meant 'movable'.

'automobile' was borrowed into English from French in the late 19th century; the gerund/verb form 'automobiling' appeared in early 20th-century English to mean travelling by automobile and later became less commonly used.

Initially it referred to 'self-moving' (the idea of a vehicle that moves by itself); over time it came to denote the vehicle itself and related actions — 'automobiling' came to mean 'traveling by automobile' and later was largely replaced by terms like 'motoring' or 'driving'.